Justice William Ramlal will rule later this month in the CN Sharma High Court case on the preliminary point of whether the President could be sued in the local courts.
Justice Ramlal made this indication on Wednesday when the matter came up for hearing. The issue of presidential powers, which was argued extensively during the hearing, will determine the immunity of the Head of State and ultimately whether CN Sharma’s challenge to the four-month suspension of his television licence can be heard. It also points to the President sitting and determining a complaint in which he was the subject.
Attorney General Doodnauth Singh, in his submissions on the issue, contended that the President of the country could not be challenged in a court of law and referred to Sharma’s motion as a challenge to President Bharrat Jagdeo’s presidential powers.However, lead defence counsel for Sharma, attorney-at-law Nigel Hughes argued that Jagdeo was not only acting as the President but also as minister with responsibility for telecommunications and as such can be challenged.
In the application before the High Court, which was made by Hughes in association with attorneys-at-law Stephen Fraser and Mark Waldron, Sharma is requesting a conservatory order restraining Jagdeo, who is the Minister of Information, his servants and or agents from suspending and or continuing to suspend his licence until the hearing and determination of the motion.
He is also seeking a conservatory order staying the suspension of his licence until the matter is determined. Additionally, the television station owner is requesting an order nisi for Jagdeo to show cause why his decision to sit, hear and determine the complaint in which the subject of the complaint involved a threat made against him, should not be quashed as a decision which is ultra vires, in breach of the rules of natural justice and fairness and null and void.
Sharma was ordered off the air for four months over an on-air licence infringement committed in February, a move that Sharma referred to as dictatorial and one that has sparked protests, with some calling for a reversal.
